Railroad-tie spacer.



H. ALL & B. M. BUGKLAND.

RAILROAD TIE SPACER.

APPLICATION rum) NOV. 1, 1909.

Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

HENRY ALL AND BRADFORD M. BUCKLAND, OF SULTANA, CALIFORNIA.

RAILROAD-TIE SPACER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

Application filed November 1, 1909. Serial No. 525,787.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, HENRY ALL and BRADFORD M. BUCKLAND, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Sultana, in the invented a new and usefulRailroad Iie Spacer, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to railway tie spacers, and has for an objecttoprovide a device of this character that can be adj ustably mounted onthe rail head and will engage the tie on each side of the rail andevenly advance the tie to any desired position from the secured tie.

A further object is to provide a tie spacer which when once applied to arail may be advanced along the rail but will automatically bind the railhead and prevent movement in the opposite direction.

A further object is to provide a tie spacer in which the clampingmembers may be readily released from locked position on the rail so thatthe device may be slid backward to any desired position on the rail.

The usual manner of spacing railway tics is to use a heavy maul orcrow-bar to jump the ties to the desired position. The ties are more orless tilted from the impact of the tools and a great deal of time andlabor expended in properly spacing the ties by this method. Our presentinvention obviates these disadvantages by the provision of a frameadapted to clamp the head of the rail and having gravitating hooks whichare operated through the medium of a lever pivoted on the frame toevenly slide the ties to their proper position.

WVith the above advantages and other objects in view which will appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, our inventionembraces the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawing,described in the following specification, and set forth in the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rail andties showing a tie spacer constructed in accordance with my invention inapplied position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a f agmentary sectional View taken on the line AB of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a planview of a modification of the rail clamping jaw.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts in the views shown.

Referring now to the drawing 1 designates a rail; and 2 designates tiesloosely inserted underneath the rail.

The frame or body portion of the tie spacj I .ing device comprises a bar3 adapted to excounty of Tulare, State of California, have tend alongthe head of the rail and held spaced therefrom by terminal cross pieces-it which have downwardly extending projcctions that loosely engage thesides of the rail head and guide the body portion in its slidingmovement along the rail head.

Arranged adjacent the forward end of the body portion is a movablemember 6 having terminal projections 7 which slidingly fit the oppositesides of the rail head. The movable member (3 may be secured to the bodyportion 1 in any preferred manner, the connection in this instance beingmade by passing the body portion through a suitable aperture 8 formedtransversely the movable member.

Positioned below the movable member is a pair of curved jaws 9 and 10,the opposed faces of which are adapted to clamp the lateral sides of therail head. One end of the jaws is pivotally connected to the extremities7 of the movable member, the opposite end being connected by links 11and 12 to the extremity 13 of a stationary member 14; disposedtransversely the body portion and adjacent the movable member.

In Fig. at is shown a modification of the rail clamping jaws. In thisinstance the jaw 10 is provided with a toothed working surface, and thecam jaw 9 is connected at its intermediate portion to the actuating link11 which latter is connected in turn to a stationary member let asbefore described. The jaws 9 and 10 are pivot-ally connected at theirintermediate portions to the extremities of a movable member (3 mountedupon the body portion 3'. Slidingly mounted on the top face of the bodyportion is a pull rod 15, one end of which is rigidly secured to themovable member and the oppo- Site end turned up to provide a finger grip16. The pull rod is guided in its sliding movements by eyes 17projecting from the top face of the body portion, as shown. Surroundingthe pull rod is a spi 'al spring 18, one end of which is rigidly securedto an apertured lug 19 projecting from the top face of the body portionand the opposite end of which bears upon the lateral face 20 of themovable member. The spring is held under tension between the lug 19 andmovable member and exerts an outward pressure on the latter whereby toyleldmgly hold the 'aws in en 'a 'ement with the o osite sides cientl 1J b b .l

of the rail head. By this arrangement of the parts any movement of thebody portion 1 in a forward direction, designated on the drawing by anarrow, will operate through the medium of the stationary member 14 andlinks 11 and 12 to spread the rear ends of the jaws and permit thedevice to be slid. along the rail, the spring 18 operating to return thejaws to their initial position the moment the advancing motion of thebody portion ceases. At the beginning 7 of the reverse movement of thebody portion the rear ends of the jaws will be drawn together and therounded working faces thereof will bind the sides of the rail head andprevent the device from being slid rearwardly along the rail until thepull rod is operated to force back the movable member against thetension of the spring.

Positioned intermediate the ends of the body portion 1 is a lever 21terminating at one end in a yoke 22, the lateral branches of which aresufficiently spaced to embrace the base flange of the rail and arepivotally con.- nected intermediate the ends to the end faces of atransverse block 24: carried by the body portion.

Pivotally connected to the terminals of the lever branches 2?) are apair of hook menibers 25 which terminate in bent portions 26 thatgravitate and engage the tie on both sides of the base flange of therail. In order to limit the gravitating movement of the hook members ayoke 27 is terminally connected to the hook members and arches up overthe body portion, as shown, the shoulder of the yoke being adapted tobear upon the top face of the body portion and support the hook memberin operative position.

The operation of the device is as follows: The body portion is placed inengagement with the rail head and the hooks dropped into engagement withthe rear faces of the tie to be spaced. The handle lever 21 is thenpulled backwardly which causes the jaws 9 and 10 through the medium ofthe stationary member and links to clamp the lateral sides of the railhead, any further movement of the handle operating to draw forward thehooks and the end of the tie engaged thereby to the desired distancefrom the secured tie. It is desirable to have a pair of the devices inoperation at the same time so that both ends of the tie may be uniformlyadvanced. hen the tie has been secured in position, the rail flange maybe spiked down in the usual manner and the device advanced along therail to the next tie. In advancing the device the hooks are held againstthe tie by the operators foot and the lever thrown forward whichoperates to release thejaws from their clamped posit-ion and slide thebody portion 1 forward when the hooks may be disengaged and the leverpulled back sufiito place the hooks in engagement with the succeedingtie. For clearness a pair of widely spaced ties is shown in the drawing,but inactual practice the ties would be very close together so that oneoperation of the lever would advance the body portion of the device asuiiicient distance along the rail head to permit the hooks to beengaged in operative position without removing the device from the rail.If for any reason the device must be moved back on the rail the pull rodis operated to release the jaws when the device may readily be slidbackward to any desired position.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, it is thought that the construction and operationof my invention will be easily understood without a more extendedexplanation, it being understood that various changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be made withoutsacrificing any of the advantages or departing from the spirit of theinvention.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. In a tie spacer, the combination of a body portion to engage the headof a rail, a movable member disposed adjacent one end of said bodyportion, a pair of jaws pivoted on said movable member and adapted toclamp a rail head, means cooperating with said m o vable member toyieldingly hold said jaws in engagement with said rail head, a pair ofhook members disposed below and on opposite sides of said body portionand adapted to engage a tie, and an operating lever pivotally mounted onsaid body'portion and adapted to advance the hook members substantiallyas described.

2. In a tie spacer, the combination of a body portion to engage the headof a rail, a movable member disposed adjacent one end of said bodyportion, a pair of jaws pivotally connected to the extremities of saidmovable member and adapted to engage the opposite sides of a rail head,means cooperating with said movable member for yieldingly holding saidjaws in engagement with said rail head, an operating lever terminatingin a bifurcated head the lateral branches of which are pivotallyconnected to said body portion, and hook members pivotally connected tothe extremities of said lateral branches and adapted to engage a tiesubstantially as described.

3. In a tie spacer, the combination of a body portion having transverseextensions adapted to engage the head of a rail, a movable memberdisposed adjacent one end of said body portion, a stationary memberpositioned on said body portion adjacent said movable member, a pair ofjaws pivotally connected at one end to said movable member and adaptedto engage the opposite sides of a rail head, links connecting saidmovable jaws with said stationary member, means for yieldingly holdingsaid jaws in engagement with said rail head, hook members adapted togravitate and engage a tie, and an operating lever pivotally mounted onsaid body portion and connecting the shanks of said hook members to saidbody portion substantially as described.

4L. In a tie spacer, the combination of a body portion having terminalextensions adapted to engage the head of a rail, a movable memberdisposed adjacent one end of said body portion adapted to loosely engagethe head of a rail, a pair 01' jaws pivotally connected to theextremities of said movable member and adapted to engage the oppositesides of a rail head, a stationary member carried by said body portionadjacent said movable member, links connecting said jaws to saidstationary member, a spring carried by said body portion and exerting apressure on said jaws whereby to yieldingly hold the same in engagementwith said rail head, means for releasing the jaws from operativeposition, a pair of hook members adapted to gravitate and engage a tieon opposite sides of the rail, and an operating lever connecting saidhook members to said body portion substantially as described.

5. In a tie spacer, the combination of a body portion having transverseextensions adapted to loosely engage the head of a rail,

a movable member disposed adjacent one end of said body portion havingterminal extensions adapted to slidingly lit the opposite sides of arail head, a pair of curved jaws connected at one end to said terminalextensions and adapted to engage the op posite sides of a rail head, astationary mem ber carried by said body portion, links connecting saidjaws with the terminals of said stationary member, a spring carried bysaid body portion and exerting a pressure on said movable member wherebyto yieldingly hold said jaws in engagement with said rail head, a pullrod attached to said movable member and operating to compress saidspring whereby to release said jaws from operative position, a pair ofhooks disposed on opposite sides of said body portion and adapted toengage a tie on each side of the rail, an operating lever pivotallymounted on said body portion and pivotally connected to the shanks ofsaid hooks substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have heretoaflixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY ALL. BRADFORD M. BUCKLAND.

\Vitnesses:

F. \V. CONKEY, B. F. KNo'rr.

